


The Crow And The Pitcher

by gem_lighter



Category: Persona 2, Persona 5, Persona Series, Persona | Revelations Persona
Genre: Gen, everyone eventually shows up, navigator!maki sonomura au, tag as i go kind of adventure, whole lot of headcanons slopped on here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23914480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gem_lighter/pseuds/gem_lighter
Summary: As competent as Goro Akechi was, he still was only a teen. And, much like the Phantom Thieves, he had to have someone assisting him. Someone who could inform him of the mechanics of the Metaverse. A navigator, even. And who better to guide him than the newly awoken goddess of the unconscious mind?-welcome to my fuckin AU to combine most of my hcs into one fucking hellscape . strap the fuck in im on something else. highly subject to tag and description editing
Relationships: Maki Sonomura & Goro Akechi, Sonomura Maki & Akechi Goro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. took the midnight train going anywhere

**Author's Note:**

> woaw this has a lot of personal lore mixed in. tldr maki sonomura is le daughter of philemon(don't ask how I got here I just did), her new quasi-immortal status has her appearing like she did in persona 1(bc I refuse to acknowledge maki being an adult under any circumstances), akechi is a shitty little teen and nothing bad ever happens

Maki had been asleep for a long time. 

She was barely on the surface of consciousness, unable to break the tension and actually do anything about the state she was in. She remembered her father-- the man with the butterfly mask-- telling her what she needed to do. Realistically, she was stuck in the Sea of Souls with no way wake up. Nyarlathotep occasionally clawed through the jelly-like consistency of the water, stealing shadows and demons to be used as weapons against persona users. 

Something she used to be. 

This mind numbing stasis lasted for longer than she could perceive, time in between when she had gone under and when it was now seemingly stretched into about 5 minutes. 

She reflected on what the hell she was supposed to be doing. The explanation Philemon gave was vague, and wholly unhelpful. 

'It's time for you to take my place. I acquiesce all my powers to you.' 

'What?' 

'Many things will be different in my absence. But I know for certain, Maki, that you will do great work in my stead.' Another one of his tests for humanity. He began pulling off his mask, and- 

-Maki jolted through the surface. The suddenness was disorienting, causing her to breathe heavily as she dropped to her knees. Looking up, she realized she wasn't in Sumaru City anymore, if the subways were anything to judge by. Her mind slowly dialed back to when she was a teenager, having to take the Tokyo subway to see the doctors about her condition.

"Tokyo..." She exhaled quietly. Teleportation aside, she stood up and began walking along the shadow wracked corridors of Mementos.

* * *

Akechi clambered through the halls, barely able to outrun the shadow chasing him. It had mean little eyes and sharper, smaller teeth, and wings to carry it where running failed. He didn't know its name, but he did know it hit fast and it could land him in serious trouble. His persona, of course, protested, knowing _full_ well that if Akechi was just a little less cowardly he'd be able to beat it.

Unfortunately, the 13 year old with legs is making the decisions here, and not a manifestation of his inner turmoil. 

He ducked around a corner and directly into someone.

He blinked wildly, scrambling to try to scramble off into a different direction, when he saw how different the person he crashed into was from the shadows of adults he had found at the ends of corridors. 

The shadow that chased him had finally caught up, but was frozen in the air. 

He looked back and forth as the lady stood up, and offered a hand. "Pixie, right? Geez, Nyarly did a number on you." She smiled, whirling around the floating shadow. 

The pixie had grabbed the girl's hand, happily twirling for her. "It's been forever, Philemon!" The pixie smiled back. 

The girl laughed in response. "It's Maki, actually. It's time to head back to the Sea of Souls!" The pixie dissolved into light, leaving behind a mint colored mask.

Akechi had backed into the nearby wall at this point, his fingers pressing into the grime of the cognitive subway wall. Maki turned to him, and Akechi rushed to get away. 

"Wait-" 

But the young boy was already gone. 

Said kid was clambering through the corridors, ducking into a safe room. 

His eyes whirled with confusion, and he tried to catch his breath. 

"Someone else... That's not a shadow..." He wondered aloud. 

Loki replied snarkily, "And you're not even brave enough to face her." Akechi puffed his cheeks out, his face twisting in annoyance. 

"Fine! I'll go try out my powers on her." Akechi barked back, annoyed at his persona's taunting. 

He stepped out of the safe room, determined to retrace his steps to locate the mysterious girl he had run from. 

Instead, he was staring at a blue subway car on the railway. It contrasted heavily with the blacks and reds of Mementos so heavily that he had to pinch himself through his belt ridden outfit to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Delicate flower-like patterns swirled the sides, carefully accented by gold, causing the whole subway car to shimmer in the muted light. The door was opened, a soft, deep blue light cascading down. Despite this, he couldn't see inside it at all. Loki shifted nervously for once. 

Akechi stepped in.


	2. Between Asuaka and Chiyoda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> akechi and maki have a fun lil chit chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stared at Tokyo subway maps for like 20 minutes trying to find a line where there wasn't a major intersection that was notated on the map so "between asuaka and chiyoda" being an impossible major stop is supposed to invoke the idea of this meeting taking place under impossible circumstances, but then I realized absolutely 0% of people would pay that much attention to a fckin chapter title and the symbolic significance it has which I thought way too much about to the point where I procrastinated on finishing this chapter in my theoretical nonexistent schedule. I put this note at the beginning bc I figured if I put it at the end ppl wouldn't remember what this chapter title is . anyways enjoy

He had closed his eyes when stepping into the subway car, and was intensely displeased to find himself still in the dark when he opened them. He reached his hands up to touch his face, but was stopped by some sort of heavy blanket that had wrapped around him. He was in the process of panicking, when a voice rang out.

"What is your name?"

He froze. Doubt sunk into his mind, but he shook his head. "Goro Akechi." He replied, balling his fists.

Nails hooked the edges of the mask on his face, pulling it off entirely. As the rest of the room came into view, he briefly saw that the mask he had been wearing was completely blank. He looked down, white ribbons whirling around his feet, of which he quickly concluded was the blanket that he had been wearing. 

The interior of the room he was in, was, in fact, a subway car. A shimmering gold had wrapped around the seats in the form of intricate decals, with hand rails also sporting the expensive aesthetic. The seats looked absurdly soft and dense, and the velvet they were covered in was rich and dark blue. 

The voice dipped in again, pulling him from his observation of the room. "I'm impressed, Goro. People who come here that can name themselves are very few and far between." 

"Oh..."

"I'm Maki Sonomura. Welcome to the space between the conscious and unconscious. Although, if you want a shorter name, most people call this the Velvet Room!"

"This is a subway car." Maki hummed noncommittally. 

"Well, when I first visited the Velvet Room, it was more of a foyer. There was always someone playing piano, and a woman sang." Her voice was light, but the tone was heavy with something implacably nostalgic. She shook herself out of the memory, and continued. "Sit down, Akechi. I want to talk to you."

Akechi scooted himself onto a nearby seat, and after a moment of hesitation, looped one leg through a metal arm rest dividing the seat. Maki giggled as she took a seat across from him, hand hovering above her mask to hide her grin. 

Akechi frowned, and stared her cool yellow eyes down. "What exactly did you want to discuss?" Maki gestured broadly.

"All of this! You don't know everything there is about the meta-verse, right? Who better to guide you than the goddess who gives the power of personas to humans like you?" Her thoughts petered out momentarily, glancing to the side. "Although so much has changed since the start... I misspoke earlier after all."

Akechi stifled a huff. "At least you admit your own incompetence." Maki's eyes widened at his statement.

"Geez, humans are awful. Maybe my dad was wrong, enlightenment is definitely not in the cards for you creatures." Her response was completely flat, contrasting with how emotive her previous speaking was, tipping Akechi off to the fact she was being utterly insincere. 

Maki flapped her hand. "We're getting off track! As I was saying, I want to serve as navigator. It'd be pretty dumb if I just sat back and watched you die or something when I can help."

"I don't need you to hold my hand." Akechi responded, clearly annoyed. Maki pushed her fingers together, sheepish.

"No, it's more like... I can give you pointers on what de-shadows are weak against!" She looked up, eyes glittering.

Akechi considered his options. He hadn't anticipated much of any of the events leading up to Sonomura's proposition, and he still wasn't entirely sure if her claims could be trusted, however he considered the fact that her sincerity had no façade to it. She was a bit simple, but Akechi could work with her. He extended a white, gloved hands towards her. Her eyes lit up, and she stood up, shaking his hand with both hers clasped around.

"I've always wanted to say this." She whispered, closed her eyes, and stared up to recall the words she spoke next.

"I am thou, thou art I. From the Sea of thy Soul, a new bond has emerged. With the creation of the Seer Persona, I have been gifted new access to humanity's depths." Her mask glowed with a cool blue light, mesmerizing Goro as she spoke. She released his hands, and he blinked.

"What was that?"

"A promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to include more this chapter(hence why I asked 3 of my discord servers abt topics that probably will get me put on a watch list) but I got wrapped up in kechi and maki just bantering that I didn't continue. anyways I cant promise that this will be the last of the expo dump so strap the fuck in
> 
> also! I spent like 3 minutes scanning the SLink chants on the persona wiki before I wrote maki's . I didn't want to use the one for da jokah bc akechi is not joker . im valid


End file.
